Update: You can still access posts on AREforum.
Thanks to archmh for this contribution: “I’ve figured out a way to access areforum.org. You can only see all the existing threads but cannot post or edit it. http://www.areforum.org/forums/archive/index.php”
So the AREforum is down but not out. Thank you archmh!
The AREforum’s forums are down for me. I get an error message, when I access that page. I don’t know how long this has been. I noticed it today at Thursday 12:30 pm Eastern time.
Don’t panic. The site’s still up.
I know how easy it is to go into withdrawal. It’s like having a stash of cash, you don’t need. You’re so much more comfortable knowing it’s there.
I mean so much more comfortable.
I feel poor and destitute too.
Forum, please come back. I only know how much I need you when you’re gone.
If anyone knows what’s going on with the forum, please leave a comment.
I alluded to process in tackling the architect registration exam (ARE). “The more you can accept “not knowing”, the more receptive you can be in your studies.” You control your actions in surmounting these exams, so focus on your actions.
Judge this example. (Reading these books compromised study time and didn’t directly help with ARE exam content.)
To improve my study process, I read, “The Learning Gap; Why Our schools are Failing and What We can Learn from Japanese and Chinese Education” by Stevenson and Stigler. This book is about 1st and 5th grade teaching. Grasping at straws, I was hoping it might help me know what might be inherently wrong in my educational point of view. I’m also reading “Engineers of Dreams; Great Bridge Builders and the Spanning of America” by Henry Petroski. To me, both helped.
What did I learn from both? I have learned from both that if something is incorrect, it is an opportunity to learn. Don’t be down on yourself. Take a wrong answer as a point to start learning from. Apparently in Japan and China a student error is an opportunity to learn (and teach). A wrong answer is discussed as to why it is wrong in a meaningful way towards reaching the correct answer. This is somewhat counter to the US where quick, correct answers are praised and encouraged.
So even though nearly EVERY STRUCTURAL QUESTION I do is wrong, I need to get over my feelings from confusion and disappointment in the wrong answer. I need to review the solutions and treat them as a learning opportunity. It seems counter to my educational training, but a wrong answer means I can learn something.
I was very uncertain I would pick up something from a book on teaching 1st and 5th grades. But the same thing goes from Petroski’s book. Even though the book doesn’t mention it specifically as in other books, it is clear that larger and larger bridge spans were developed upon the knowledge of bridge failures. Engineers built on the knowledge of what didn’t work to understand what does.
So I need to learn from my mistakes and not take them to heart. Though it could apply, I’m really not talking about learning from ARE exam failures here. I’m talking about difficulty with study questions and review material. I’d rather learn from those, as I really don’t want to be taking this structural systems exam twice. (Goodness no.)
PPI
Sketchbook Project